IMD-OWP22-PostEvent-Report-V11[8]

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IN DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACY

Why has democracy been in retreat over the past two decades? Why is this “democratic backsliding” bad news for business? CEOs are not powerless. They can – and should – act.

Twenty years ago, one in two people on Planet Earth lived in a country deemed “free” by Freedom House, a think tank. Today, barely one in five do. Non-democratic regimes such as Russia and China are projecting global power, while erstwhile democratic stalwarts, especially the US and Europe, are facing dangerous levels of polarization

As global citizens, we should be deeply worried. And as business leaders, we must understand that democracies have been the architects – and defenders – of the rules-based international order on which global business has relied for decades.

and populist movements undermining democracy from within.

DAVID BACH Professor of Strategy and Political Economy

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